AP Physics at CHRHS is a 1.5 credit advanced course designed to be equivalent to a college level introductory physics course. You will have the opportunity to earn college credit by taking the AP Physics exam on Monday, May 12. Please expect that there will be more work involved with this course than either other academic courses that are worth only 1 credit, or other non-AP courses that are worth 1.5 credits. The curriculum of this course mirrors the required curriculum outlined by College Board for AP Physics C: Mechanics. As such, the sequence and pace of material is, for the most part, pre-defined. It is absolutely critical for you to keep current with assignments and, when you experience difficulties, for you to make an appointment with me outside of class time for assistance.

The overall objective of AP Physics C: Mechanics is to prepare you to take and pass the AP Physics C: Mechanics exam administered by College Board. For that reason, your overall grade in this course during the first three quarters will be heavily weighted on exams and quiz grades. In addition, independent work, in-class activities, and laboratories will factor into your grade, according to the following percentages:

“Independent Work” 15%

Exams/Quizzes 55%

In-Class Activities/Labs 30%

Note: Because of the timing of the AP exam, the percentages listed above will be different for the 4th quarter. Specific details will be given at the beginning of the 4th quarter.

INDEPENDENT WORK:Fifteen percent of your overall grade will be earned through completing homework, in the form of 3X3 reports and in-chapter practice problems (6%), peer review of 3x3 reports (3%), and end-of-chapter practice problems from your textbook (6%).

QUIZZES/EXAMS:AP Physics is highly weighted to quiz and exam grades, just as any college course is. If you can’t complete problems by yourself, you haven’t learned the material (and therefore shouldn’t expect a very high grade). There will essentially be two types of assessments:

- Quizzes: These assessments are unannounced and will usually occur the day a set of practice problems is due. The quiz will be based directly on the problems that were assigned that night, and will most often be a book problem similar (and of equivalent difficulty) to the problems assigned for homework. No quiz scores will be dropped, but I will allow you to re-take one per quarter, provided you do so either during a free period or after school, within 48 hours of receiving your corrected grade (the ONLY exception is illness – having to work or play sports will not extend the 48 hour window). If you retake a quiz, I will count the higher of the two grades.

- Exams: These assessments will be announced and will usually consist of actual AP Physics C exam questions or test prep questions. These assessments will be cumulative, covering any material learned since Day 1.

ACTIVITIES/LABS:To be graded, all work associated with activities and labs (data, analysis, calculations, and answers to questions) MUST be written in your bound journal (not taped into it). The only exceptions are graphs, which, if you generate with a computer, can be taped into the journal. Activities are generally completed in small groups that you will be able to choose.